The famous novelist and humourist was born in Mary Street, Clonmel on November 24th 1713, son of Roger Sterne, an Englishman who was an ensign with an Infantry Regiment in Clonmel, and Agnes Herbet, a local lady of partly French decent, whose family lived on Suir Island in Clonmel. He was the great grandson of Richard Sterne Archbishop of York.

Laurence idolised his father and it was from him he took his ideas for the famous “Tristram Shandy” character “Uncle Toby”. Because the first ten years of his life were spent in army barracks he gained all the impressions of army life he needed for the material for his book. He learned to read and write mostly in Irish Barracks up until 1723 when his family moved back to England. His father died in 1731 leaving him penniless until he met up with a wealthy cousin, Richard Sterne, who took an interest in him. Richard partly funded Laurence’s time in college in Cambridge at Jesus College where his great grandfather was once Master, he took both A B and A M degrees as well as Holy Orders. He graduated in 1737 and was ordained and appointed Curate to the Anglican Church at St. Ives, then became Vicar of Sutton-in-the-Forest, a village near York, In 1739 he met Elizabeth Lumley an orphan with a small independent fortune. It was in a letter to her that the word “sentimental” was used for the first time in the English language. They married in 1741. Laurence Sterne died in 1768 at the age of 54 from a severe bout of flu.

George Henry Borrow

George Borrow was born in East Dereham on July 5th 1803, son of Thomas Borrow, a Chaplin in the North West Regiment, and Anne Perferment, a Norfolk girl of some beauty who had been an actress. Borrow spent his first 13 years travelling mainly in Scotland and Ireland with the Regiment. It was in these years he made his acquaintance with the Gypsies that were to become almost an obsession with him. In 1815 the Regiment left Cork and moved to Clonmel, where the family took up residence in O’Connell Street.

George was sent to a local Grammar School in Irishtown to learn Greek. It was here that he met Murtagh, a tall wild lad, who spoke to George in Irish. When they first met George said “hello” and in exchange Murtagh replied “Seoirse Dear”. From that moment George insisted on learning “Erse” (Irish) as he called it. Murtagh agreed to teach him in exchange for a deck of cards. Murtagh was later to feature in Borrow’s books “Romany Rye” and “Lavergro”. In 1816 after a year in Ireland, the Borrow family moved to Norwich. It was there George attended the Royal Grammar School and began to pick up a superficial knowledge of many languages. In 1819 at the age of 17 he could understand 12 languages and translate no fewer than 35. At this stage George decided to make literature his profession and joined the London firm of Richard Phillips and Associates. Here he assisted in the compilation of the Newgate Calendar. George found Phillips a harsh master and left after a short while.

In 1823 George’s health failed and he had a severe attack of nerves which he referred to as “The Fear” or “The Horrors”. In 1840 George married Mary Clarke, a widow of a naval officer. He settled down to a literary career and encouraged the gypsies to camp on his lands, as he held a strong fascination for them. On December 10th 1842 George published the “Bible in Spain”, a brilliantly picturesque highly informative travel book and it was an overwhelming success. George became famous overnight and was idolised by London Society. Alas, in the next few years before his second book, his popularity waned, his rude manners, strong mood swings, and sharp tongue made him many enemies and few friends. In 1859 George’s mother died and with her passing he moved to London. He published his second book “Wild Wales” in which he mentioned Clonmel “the best salmon in the world is caught in the Suir river, a river that flows past the beautiful town of Clonmel in Ireland”. After this George wrote less and less. His wife died in 1869 and he spent the last years of his life in Oulten Broad rather hermit like. He died alone on July 26th 1881.